With the bitter partisanship in today's Washington it's hard to imagine the Republicans in Congress giving President Obama the power to implement even his far more modest governmental reorganization plan before next November's elections.

Obama was slow to react to the disaster. Luckily for him, the disaster itself is happening in slow motion as well. It is definitely not too late for Obama to lead. He can still redeem himself and his image.

Some aid projects have focused on restoring the country's forests, but few have tried to fix the generations of harm that has been done to Haiti's coral, its mangroves, its beaches and, most of all, its fish.